When I No Longer Walk On The Brown Earth

(Feeling a little melancholic about someone I had loved a long time ago, in my youth. Who was snatched away from me by Death.)

When I no longer walk

On the brown earth

Of tomorrow

Will you see me

In every little grain of sand

Tossed by the sea

In the pollen dust

That blows in the breeze

In every tremble of a leaf

That flutters in the wind

When I no longer walk

On the brown earth

Of tomorrow –

When I no longer walk

On the brown earth

Of tomorrow

Will you wonder

What form the wind takes

When it no longer stirs

What becomes of the stars

When they no longer shine

What happens to the clouds

When they shed their rain

Does the flight of the bird

Evaporate into nothing

Will you wonder

When I no longer walk

On the brown earth

Of tomorrow

Will you lift your face

To the caressing fingers

Of the radiant sun

And recognize

My touch

When a sudden gust

Blows across your face

Will you recognize

My breath

When you feel the first drops

Of the monsoon rain

Soak your face

Will you recognize

My tears

And when the rain fills the air

With the fragrance

Of the earth

Will you recognize

My scent

When I no longer walk

On the brown earth

Of tomorrow –

-by Rita Putatunda